Paws and Claws
by SnowyPicture
Summary: Lance finds an alien dog on an abandoned planet and adopts her as his own, but unfortunately she seems to like Keith better.


_How To Train Your Alien Dog_

Big magenta eyes stared up at Keith.

"I'm not Lance," he said, matching its stare. _Her_ stare, though Keith still wasn't convinced it was a girl. "Go find Lance."

The thing – the _dog,_ though Keith still wasn't convinced it was a dog – sat and started panting slightly, mouth open in what might be considered a smile. Its tiny tale wiggled against the floor, little green spikes spanning its sides like some sort of thick barbed wire. Lance's hands were covered in Altean healing salve and bandages because them.

"I'm _not Lance_ ," Keith tried again, and the thing yipped, its tiny, spiky ears perking up at his voice. Lance nearly had to go into a healing pod when one almost gouged out his eye. Keith wasn't hopeful enough to assume they had perked up because she heard Lance's name.

When Keith did nothing, the thing yipped again. Except it wasn't a yip, nor a bark, exactly. It sounded more like what Keith imagined a small dinosaur might sound like. Its high pitched, screeching roar reverberated off the walls of the hangar. In fact, Keith was convinced it _was_ a dinosaur, but Lance wouldn't hear of it.

Keith had been going to visit Red when it found him. He didn't know how this thing _always_ found him.

He heard the doors to the hangar _whoosh_ open behind him. He closed his eyes.

"Keith!"

Lance's voice bounced off every crevice in the room, nearly as loud as the creature's roar. Keith tightened his jaw.

"Are you _wooing_ my dog again?"

Keith didn't turn around.

He waited until he heard Lance's footsteps come to a halt in front of him. Keith opened his eyes. Lance's were narrowed, hands on his hips.

"I'm not wooing your dog, Lance," Keith said flatly. "I'm _never_ wooing your dog."

"Then why does she always follow you around?" Lance demanded. "Why does she like you so much? It makes no sense!"

"I don't know," Keith said petulantly, only vaguely offended. It was a valid question; Keith never petted the thing, or played with it, or fed it, or- anything, really. "Why do _you_ like it so much? It's ripped you half to shreds with those spikes."

If possible, Lance's eyes narrowed more. "Sounds like you two could be best friends. Show her a few of your blades of Marmora lately? Your knife collection?"

Keith swallowed down his irritation. "I have _one_ blade of Marmora, and I do not have a collection of knives. Stop being an idiot."

"I just want to know why my dog likes you more than it likes me!" Lance said, eyes finally widening, and for the first time Keith recognized the note of hysteria in his voice.

It had been a few weeks now, and _still_ the thing seemed to prefer Keith.

They had found her on an abandoned planet, one that had once, in Coran and Allura's day, been teeming with life until the Galra found it at some point within the last ten thousand years. Now there had been no sign of life except for this _thing,_ which had bounded out of what looked heap of decay. The thing itself had looked like a heap of decay itself, matted and putrid with dirt and muck.

It had just been the two of them, the rest of the team broken up into pairs and threes elsewhere, and secretly Keith suspected he knew why it preferred him.

It had seen Keith first. Run to Keith first.

But it was _Lance_ who insisted on taking it in.

It had yipped and screeched so happily, ran so wildly around them and licked both of their faces raw with its slobbering, rancid tongue that Lance couldn't bear to leave it behind, where it was so quiet and abandoned and alone.

"We can't just take in animals, Lance."

"I think our _lions_ beg to differ, Keith."

Keith thought of several ways he could have argued that point, but he was fairly convinced Coran and Allura wouldn't allow it anyway, and even more, Lance looked so _happy_ with the thing covered in mucky green spikes and matted orange fur and big pink eyes. He immediately dubbed it a dog.

"I will call her Lilac," Lance declared not a moment later.

"Lilac?" Keith frowned. He didn't think the pretty name really fit the strange creature he was looking at.

"It's a flower," Lance said as he reached down to pet the creature. It nearly pounced on him again at the attention, but Lance was protected from its spikes and grimy fur by his suit.

"I know it's a flower," Keith said, crossing his arms. Allura and Coran would never agree to this.

Allura and Coran agreed to it.

"It'll be nice to have a some youthful energy around here," said Coran, smiling warmly at the creature like it was a small, fuzzy kitten instead of a half-dog, half-lizard covered in huge, sharp spikes. Lance had managed to get it clean before showing it to everyone else. Its fur revealed itself to be a vivid orange and its green spikes gleamed in the bright lights of the Castle.

"What about Pidge? She's youthful," said Hunk, who had no fear of getting down on his knees and scratching it between its spikes.

"Pidge is no fun, she never wants to play fetch," said Lance from beside Hunk.

"Does _this_ thing know how to play fetch?" asked Pidge, raising her eyebrows.

"I'm going to teach her, duh," said Lance, raising his chin.

"How do you know it's a girl?" asked Shiro, who had been the only other one wary of letting a strange alien creature in their living space.

"Simple," Lance said. His face shifted into a telltale smirk. "The ladies love me."

They all groaned.

Now, in the hangar, Lance seemed far less sure of his dog's love for him.

Keith felt a flicker of guilt as he looked from Lance's eyes, wide with desperation for an answer, to the dog's, which were _still_ looking up at him, pink and wide and smiling.

"I don't know," he said. "I didn't _do_ anything." He thought of the way the creature had latched eyes on him the moment it emerged from its hiding place on that abandoned, rocky planet.

"You had to have done _something_ ," Lance said.

But he didn't wait for an answer, just pulled out the leash Pidge had fashioned for it and latched it around the dog's neck. "Come on, Lilac. Keith has nothing for you."

Gently, he pulled the spiky creature away, out of the hanger and through the whooshing doors. Keith watched them go, a strange sense of emptiness settling over him. He and Lance developed a friendship over the past year or so, and this _creature_ seemed to be sending them into a regression back to rivals. Not that Keith was competing for the thing's attention.

He shook his head and walked over to where Red was stationed.

"Nope," he muttered to himself. "Nothing for you."

Red sent a small wave of comfort his way before he'd even entered her cockpit.

* * *

Keith sat in the kitchen, slowly making his way through a bowl of food goo. Hunk had probably made something more appetizing for dinner, but Keith had overshot his training session and when he checked what time it was, the others would have long retired for the night.

He was nearly finished when he heard the familiar patter of spiked paws _tap tap tapping_ on the Castle floor. Apparently _someone_ was still awake. Keith closed his eyes.

The dog appeared in the doorway just as he opened them again. As always, she seemed to smile at the sight of him.

Keith was on the side of exhaustion that dampened his exasperation, so when she trotted over and brushed up, scratchily, against his leg, he reached down and carefully pet between her ears.

She purred. Hunk had tried to point out how very un-dog-like this was to Lance, but "she's a strong, independent canine woman and she can purr if she wants to, Hunk."

Keith didn't hate the dog. In fact, he liked her, a lot. She was kind of cool, all covered in spikes. He just didn't like the way this dog put him at odds with Lance.

Keith knew he should tell Lance that his dog had… _imprinted_ on him, but he shied away every time. He wasn't sure why he did, because it wasn't as if it was his fault that the dog had seen him first. He owed it to Lance. He was tired of the animosity between them. He thought they were past that.

Lance appeared in the doorway moments later, and Keith caught the moment Lance saw him, the way his eyes landed on Keith's face and darted down to his hand on the dog's head, to the dog herself and her loud, content purrs.

Lance seemed to wilt slightly.

And _that_ was why he had trouble telling Lance, Keith realized. Because if he told Lance that his dog had some weird, _maternal_ connection with him, then she would seem…less Lance's.

Which was dumb, because she _was_ Lance's.

Keith automatically pulled his hand away from the dog's head. His stomach twitched uncomfortably, like he'd been caught doing something wrong, which, in Lance's eyes, he probably was.

"Lilac wanted one of Hunk's treats," Lance said, sliding his eyes away and walking around to the other side of the kitchen, where there was a round tin full of Lilac-approved food goo hardened into bone-shaped treats.

The moment the dog heard the rustle of the tin, she darted out from beneath Keith's chair and over to Lance, tail wagging lethally. A look of delighted surprise lit up Lance's face, and Keith felt himself relax again.

Keith watched, silently, as Lance sat on the floor, tucking his slipper-clad feet beneath his knees, and fed her more than the Hunk-recommended number of treats. Lance scratched between her spikes with much more precision than Keith had. He seemed to know all the spots she liked best.

As if he could feel Keith's eyes on him, Lance looked up and met his gaze. Keith felt caught again, but this time he felt intrusive, like he'd been watching a moment he shouldn't have been. He felt heat creep up the back of his neck.

"Lance," he started. He had to tell him.

"I think I'm growing on her," said Lance, ignoring him, and Keith got the distinct impression that he didn't want to hear what Keith had been about to say. "Sometimes it's like that with pets, you know? We can't all be dog whisperers."

"I'm not a dog whisperer," said Keith. And Lilac wasn't actually a dog, but he refrained from mentioning that particular detail.

Lance ignored him again. "I have a dog at home, a chocolate lab. He's older now, but when he was a puppy he was just like Lilac." He ran his fingers along one of Lilac's spikes. "He always liked my older siblings best, though. They always had an easier time controlling him when he got wild."

Keith watched the way Lance traced his hand down the spike. He didn't know what to say.

"My older brother would pick me up and put me on top of him so I could ride him, but I don't think he liked that much." Lance smiled slightly, sadly, eyes far away. But then they refocused and he looked up at Keith. "Anyway, once Cocoa got older he liked me better, so I think it's probably the same with Lilac." He paused. "Cocoa. Not a very creative name, huh?"

Keith shrugged. "Our lions are literally named Red and Blue."

The comment seemed to catch Lance off guard, because he let out a strange, strangled laugh. He met Keith's eyes.

Keith felt something light, airy and pleasant settle in his chest.

But the moment barely lasted. The sound seemed to startle the dog, who jumped back to her feet and, to both of their dismay, made her way back over to Keith.

Lance's face wilted again, and all of the pleasure Keith had felt just a moment before seemed to evaporate into the air around them as the dog nudged his ankle.

He looked down at her. _No,_ he tried to convey with his eyes. One of her spikes made a terrible scratching noise against the metal leg of his chair.

"Why did you name her Lilac?" he heard himself ask in an attempt to grasp the moment before it slipped away completely.

Lance looked up at him again. His expression cleared slightly as he leaned back on his hands and stretched out his long legs before him, as if trying to take up as much space as he possibly could without lying flat on the ground. "My mom loved them," he said, and shrugged. "She used to plant them in little baskets and hang them from the ceiling of our front porch. They always grew too long and I'd get all these petals in my hair. Smelled nice, though."

Keith nodded absently, imagining Lance with lilac petals in his hair.

"I guess I just, I don't know, when I saw her I thought of Cocoa and then I thought of home and I thought of my mom's lilacs," he said, and shrugged again. "Probably should have let you name her, though."

"What?" said Keith, frowning. "No- I like it. Lilac. It's pretty."

"Oh," said Lance. "Okay."

A brief silence settled between them. Keith had to explain.

"Sorry I've been kind of a jerk to you about this," Lance said, quickly, as if he wanted to get the words off his tongue as quickly as possible. He scratched the back of his neck.

Keith was caught off guard. Rarely did they apologize to each other for the things they did or said. "It's fine."

The dog yipped at Keith's feet. Lance let out an enormous sigh. "Whatever. Give her what she wants." He paused. "But are you _sure_ you're not hoarding treats?"

Keith groaned, but reached down to pet the dog's head. "Yes, why would I hoard treats?"

"I don't know why you do the things you do."

Keith huffed out a laugh. "I promise you, I'm not trying to steal your dog."

Lance rolled his eyes, but Keith felt relieved to see the smile lingering around his lips.

 _Later,_ Keith thought. _I'll tell him later._

* * *

"Keith, okay, just aim her a little bit to the right…right...perfect!"

Pidge laughed as Keith pushed her off into the hair, using his knees as a sort of springboard. She soared across the room and Hunk caught her before she could crash into the opposite wall.

Turning on the anti-gravity was a fun way to pass the time when they weren't fighting the forces of evil, Keith had discovered.

"I wish I was Pidge-sized," said Hunk as he hurled Pidge back toward Keith. She did a summersault in the air before he caught her by the elbows. "I want to know what it's like to get tossed around."

"I'm too small, and we already tried that with Lance, remember?" said Pidge, positioning her feet on Keith's knees again. "You almost broke his nose."

"Oh yeah," said Hunk, frowning. "He had a bruise for a week."

"He'll get on you about cutting his beauty sleep one hour short, but won't say a word when you almost break his nose," said Pidge, but she looked amused.

"I still feel bad about that," said Hunk, shaking his head. "He's a good guy."

Keith made a small noise of assent before Pidge sprung into the air again. This time she cartwheeled.

Like they had called his name, the doors below opened and with a _whoosh_ of air and two more bodies were sucked inside the room. One sailed in gracefully; the other shot in like a rocket.

Pidge screamed as a ball of green and orange just missed her.

"LANCE!" she said as Hunk barely caught her. "I was almost impaled by your dog!"

Lance sailed through the air as smooth and easy as a dolphin underwater. "But you weren't, were you?" He grinned at her.

"Dude, she's coming back this way," said Hunk, eyeing Lilac as she bounced off the wall. She yapped gleefully.

"I can tell you're using me as shield, Hunk," Pidge said, jabbing him with her elbow.

"Sorry Pidge, but those are sharp spikes!"

"She doesn't _want_ to hurt you guys," said Lance.

"That doesn't mean she won't. She has no control in here," Keith pointed out. "We hardly do."

"Oh yeah?" said Lance. He pushed himself off the side of the wall and soared dangerously close to Keith. Their arms barely brushed, just the slightest touch of skin as Lance swung his in a motion resembling a backstroke. His face was smug as he drifted away backward. "I feel perfectly in control."

"Hm," said Keith, who saw he was headed right toward Pidge and Hunk, and could see the smirk forming on Pidge's face.

"Pidge, catch me!" Lance said, closing his eyes and holding his arms out.

"Okay," said Pidge.

She did catch him. Then she used all her might to kick him back through the air.

"Pidge- hey, no!"

Lance shot from across the room like Lilac had, and Keith tried to move, _should_ have moved sooner –

 _SMACK._ Lance hit Keith squarely in the chest with so much force it sent them both reeling through the air. Keith felt the air leave his lungs, could taste Lance's hair in his mouth, heard Lance screaming the entire way-

They hit the opposite wall with a loud thud. Spots of pain blossomed before Keith's eyes.

"Remind me again of how you were perfectly in control," Keith said through gritted teeth as they rebounded more slowly through the air. He'd taken the brunt of the hit.

"That wasn't my fault!" Lance said. He disentangled himself from Keith. "But dude, you definitely could have been more graceful about that."

" _Me_?"

"Yeah, you should have just ridden it, not tried to resist," said Lance. He laid back in a position of cool relaxation, like nothing even happened. Keith felt a fierce flash of irritation. "You know, like following a current."

"Then I would have hit the wall even harder!" said Keith. He rubbed the back of his head. He could still feel the force of the impact in his skull. He winced again.

Something in Lance's face changed. He twisted upright again. "Oh," he said, smile slipping away. "Are you alright?"

Something in his voice was soft. _Concern_ , Keith realized. It threw him off, made his stomach feel like it was in its own anti-gravity chamber as blue eyes focused on his own. "I'm fine."

"Pidge! You totally have enough strength to throw me!" Hunk said from the other side of the room, outraged.

"Hmm? What? I don't – WATCH OUT FOR THE DOG!"

Keith looked up, glimpsed a blur of green spikes and orange fur flying toward him, and had just enough time to consider how much more painful this collision would be than the last.

He braced himself.

But the pain never came. Instead, he heard Lance yell out again. Keith's eyes flew open.

"Lilac! LILAC NO!" Hunk shouted, flailing his arms uselessly.

Lance and Lilac grappled in the air, the dog wild in a frenzy, and Keith could see red blooming through Lance's clothes, dots of blood floating around them.

"Lilac, _stop_!" said Pidge, trying to swim, helplessly, toward them. " _Quiznak_ , I should have brought my bayard!"

Keith's stomach clenched in small flutters of panic. That thing _was_ going to literally rip Lance to shreds. He felt himself draw in a breath.

"LILAC!"

Everything stopped moving. They all looked at Keith. He blinked.

"Lilac…stop," he added dumbly, and just like that, the dog pushed herself from Lance's arms and back into the air, yipping its screeching yip.

She came straight for Keith.

 _Oh well,_ Keith thought to himself, resigned. _As long as she's not hurting Lance._

Except-

Hunk cried out in surprise.

Lilac retracted her spikes – every single one – and became an earless ball of orange fur. When she hit Keith, it was like catching a pillow.

A laugh of disbelief bubbled out of Keith's throat. Lilac yipped again in his arms, loud and joyful, and licked his face all over. It tickled. Keith laughed again, one of surprise and relief.

"Hey, guys, do you see-"

He looked up. The look on Lance's face stopped him.

Lance, a mess of ripped clothes and bloody cuts, and Keith, a mess of affectionate dog slobber.

Keith felt like he'd swallowed a stone, and even the anti-gravity didn't stop it from feeling heavy. "Lance-"

"No, it's fine," said Lance, his voice oddly tight. "It's been obvious this whole time that she likes you better."

"Lance-" Hunk tried.

"No, it's okay," Lance said again. "Really. It was the same with Cocoa. He always liked my brothers and sisters better. I'm used to it. Hey Pidge, can you turn the gravity back on?"

A moment later they were back on the floor, Lilac curled safely in Keith's arms in protection from the fall.

He looked up, feeling clumsy as he tried to stand up with his newly heavy limbs. "Lance-"

But the doors had already _whooshed_ open and clicked shut again. Keith looked around, and only Pidge and Hunk looked back at him, sympathetic.

Lilac licked his face again, as harmless as anything Keith had ever seen.

* * *

"Okay, look," Keith said. He sat in one of the spare rooms, starry space stretching out in the giant window behind Lilac. She sat in front of him, bright-eyed and un-spiked and smiling as ever. "I'm really not that great."

Lilac licked his arm.

"No, really," Keith said, and pushed her away gently. "It's Lance you should like. He feeds you. He plays with you. He cares about you loads more than I do."

Lilac snuggled against his leg. He sighed.

"Lilac, really." He resisted the urge to pet her as she began to purr. "I didn't even want you. Without Lance, you'd still be on that planet, alone. Lance is the one that saved you. He's the one that- will you _stop_ being cuddly?"

Lilac gently nipped at his knee. Keith liked to think he was tougher than this.

He took a deep breath. "Lilac, Lance is great. Really great, okay? Yeah, I know he can be a bit…much, sometimes, but…that's kind of just part of his charm." Keith ran his hands over his face. This thing was an animal. It had no idea what he was saying.

Lilac nudged at his knee again, purring louder.

Sighing, Keith gave in and scratched her head, and even though he kind of missed her spikes, he had to admit it was much more pleasant petting her without them.

"Really, Lilac," he muttered. "You should like him best. I do."

But, of course, Lilac didn't respond, and a moment later she had slid to the floor at his feet, fast asleep.

Keith sighed and fell back against the couch. "Yeah," he said. "Good talk." He let his eyes drift to the stars outside the window, defeat churning in his stomach.

He closed his eyes.

"You think I have charm?"

Keith jumped so hard that Lilac startled awake, yipping. He whirled around on the couch.

Lance stood in the doorway.

He had fresh clothes on, and his hands, arms, and face were covered in white bandages. Icy realization, and then the burning heat of embarrassment flooded Keith's senses.

 _Oh no. Oh_ quiznak-

"I-" Keith started.

"I mean, I know I do," said Lance, slipping his hands casually into his pockets and walking closer. "But if _you_ – who wouldn't know charm if it hit him over the head – think I do, then I must have way more than I thought."

Despite his raging embarrassment, Keith felt his eyes narrow slightly.

"Really, I didn't know you-"

Lilac yipped, her tiny screech breaking through Lance's words as she hopped up onto the couch beside Keith, her tiny, thorn-less tail wagging incessantly. She licked the side of Keith's face, and then she looked back at Lance and yipped again.

Lance blinked, his bravado slipping as he looked at Lilac, and then back at Keith. He took his hands out of his pockets and rubbed them on the sides of his pants.

"Did you," Lance started. He cleared his throat and met Keith's eyes again. "Did you mean that?"

Lilac's breathing was loud in Keith's ear. Which part? Did it matter which part?

"Or were you just saying it for the dog? You were probably just saying it for the dog. That's nice of you, Keith, but honestly I don't think she even knows English," Lance said into Keith's silence. He shoved his hands back into his pockets and began to pace. "Do you think it's possible to teach her to understand English? I'm not sure if it's possible to train her at all, I can't even get her to sit. But maybe you can, she likes you, obviously, so-"

"Lance-"

"I know Earth dogs could be trained to respond to hand signals, but I don't even know any hand signals. Maybe I could just make up my own system, which might be a lot of work, but we do have a surprising amount of free time between fighting Zarkon-"

 _"_ _Lance."_

Lance stopped. He looked back at Keith, breathing heavily. He looked almost frightened.

"Lance," Keith said, his voice going quiet in the sudden silence. His hands were curled into fists in his lap. "I meant it."

"Oh," Lance said. And then he flushed.

His face was a bright, tomato red. A stark contrast against the white bandages on his cheeks. His eyes darted around the room and then back to Keith. "You really weren't just saying that?"

Keith shook his head, heart beating erratically in his chest. A part of him wanted to disappear into the stars outside the window. "I wouldn't just _say_ that, Lance." It came out slightly irritated.

"Not even for a dog?"

"No!"

"Oh," Lance said again. He paused. "Okay."

Lilac began to purr against Keith's shoulder, her fur tickling his neck. Lance's eyes fell on her.

The distance between them felt stupid, suddenly.

"You don't have to just stand there, you know," Keith said.

Lance glanced towards the door.

"I mean come over _here,_ " His nerves came out as aggravation and he tried to temper it down.

If anything, Lance looked relieved. He rounded the couch and sat down a safe distance from both Lilac and Keith. Lilac looked around at him and yipped, bounding across the couch for a scratch. Lance's face lit up.

Keith felt something in him well up. This was as good a time as any to come out with it.

"Lance," he said, and licked his lips, "I know why Lilac likes me so much."

Lance looked up at him, hands buried in Lilac's fur.

"She saw me first," he said, "when we found her. I think she, well- you know how ducklings…attach themselves to people when they don't have a mother?"

Lance blinked. Then, to Keith's enormous surprise, he broke out into a wide grin. "She thinks you're her _mother?"_

And then he laughed until his laughter filled every corner of the room, until Lilac began to yip and jump around and lick both of their faces, frenzied.

Keith felt his face going red. "It's not funny!"

"Dude," Lance said, wiping a tear from his eye. "It's hilarious. You? A mother? I never thought I'd see the day."

"That's because I'm not a mother!"

Lance fell back into the couch, letting out the last of his chuckles. "Sorry, sorry." His smile tempered down to normal. He looked back at Keith. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know you'd react like _that,_ " Keith said, scowling.

"How did you think I'd react?" Lance asked, before he blinked and his expression sobered. "Oh," he said after a moment. He looked back at Lilac, still running around the room. "I guess she really never will be mine, then."

"Lance," Keith said, leaning forward slightly. "She _is_ yours. She- well," Keith broke off. "You heard what I said."

Lance fell quiet, playing absently with his fingers in his lap. "Yeah," he finally said slowly. "I heard what you said."

The way Lance spoke set a prickle of nerves down Keith's spine.

He didn't know what to say, but the silence that had settled between them was becoming too heavy. "How are your cuts?"

"They're fine," Lance said. "They'll heal. But-" He sucked in a breath, as if he was about to say something big and long-winded and Keith's heart rose into his throat.

Then he stopped.

He met Keith's eyes, let out his breath and said, softly, "Keith."

Nerves fanned over Keith's entire body like static.

He jumped as Lilac chose that moment to rub up against his leg, yipping gently. Absently he brought his hand to her head.

"Maybe," Lance started. "Maybe we could- share custody?"

Keith looked at him.

Lance brought a hand to the back of his neck. "On account of- you know, she likes you best. And- and you-" He broke off again, clamping his lips shut.

"Like you best," Keith tentatively finished for him, picking up Lance's courage.

A smile tugged at Lance's mouth. "And _I,_ " he said, taking another breath, "like both of you best."

Warmth welled in Keith's chest and he laughed, which made Lilac yip, and Lance smiled wider, all white teeth and bronze skin and blue eyes.

"But- but really?" said Lance, his smile softening into something more earnest. "Really, you like-"

Keith scooted down the couch and put a hand over Lance's mouth. "Yes."

He felt Lance smile beneath his palm, eyes crinkling around the edges. Keith's chest filled with light.

Keith pulled his hand back, but Lance grabbed his wrist.

"Can I-"

"Yes," Keith said a second time.

"I've wanted to for a long time."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"I mean, me too."

"Oh, good."

"Just good?"

But Lance was grinning back. "You think you're such a hotshot."

Keith kissed him before he could waste any more time with words.

For one rigid moment Lance seemed to freeze, lips soft and unmoving and Keith nearly pulled away – had he interpreted this wrong? – before Lance surged forward, gripping Keith's wrist like a lifeline and using the other hand to cup the back of Keith's head and pull him closer.

Keith thought his heart my explode out of his chest. He had no idea what he was doing, but everything was _Lance, Lance, L-_

Lilac yipped loudly, and a surging pain ripping through Keith's arm at the same time Lance cried out.

"Lilac!" Keith said, blinking. She had forced her way between them, spikes erected and gleaming. Lance was holding a spot over his stomach, eyes closed in pain. Keith looked down at his own arm, blood leaking through the fresh cut.

"Not a fan of me kissing your mother?" Lance said to Lilac, voice strained.

"I'm not her mother," Keith said, because his brain was still racing amongst the pain.

"Tell _her_ that," said Lance. He groaned as he pulled his hand away from his shirt, red with blood. "One of the bandages opened."

Keith stood up and tugged at his shoulder. "Come on, let's go get you some new ones."

"My knight in shining armor," said Lance, getting to his feet. "Protect me from your dangerous offspring."

"Lance."

"It makes a lot of sense, actually. Your kid _would_ be covered in knives."

"Shut up before you pass out."

Lilac, spikey as ever, followed them out of the room, yipping all the way.

* * *

"I think she likes me now," Lance said, cradling a purring, fuzzy Lilac against his chest. He sat on the floor, his back against one of the larger windows in the Castle, a mess of stars and planets beyond the glass.

"She always liked you," said Keith, trailing his fingers through Lance's hair before he sat down beside him on the cool floor.

"Yeah, but now she doesn't try to bleed me out with her spikes," Lance said cheerfully. Keith smiled.

It had taken a few weeks for Lilac to grow completely convinced that Lance was harmless around Keith. To be fair, it had also taken a few weeks for Keith and Lance to settle into whatever this new _thing_ between them was.

"Dating," Keith had said.

"Parenthood," Lance had sighed.

Keith leaned back against the window, his shoulder against Lance's. Lilac yipped when she saw him, but looked too content in Lance's arms to move.

"Now we just need to get our lions to like her," said Lance. He rolled his eyes. "Cats. What's their deal when it comes to dogs?"

Red hadn't liked it at all when Lilac had joined him in the cockpit for a joyride the other day, and Lance expressed Blue feeling the same when Lilac had followed him into his lion to do some maintenance with Hunk after a particularly rough mission.

Looking down at Lilac in Lance's arms, she looked more like a giant, orange cotton ball than like a dog. Keith turned his head and grinned into Lance's shoulder. Lance shifted and pressed his lips to the hair over Keith's forehead.

The gesture was soft, and it reminded Keith, for an odd moment, of Lance on Earth, hair covered in lilac petals under a bright blue sky.

Sitting with space spinning at their backs, a sometimes cuddly, sometimes deadly alien dog between them, Keith felt a happier – if stranger – kind of contentment. A bit more dangerous, but Keith could live with that.


End file.
